Sam's Singapore trip

By: Upala KBR , Mid-DayFriday, March 30, 2007 The
traveller-at-heart recently returned from a trip to Singapore

Sameera
Reddy took off with her best friends to Sentosa Island, Singapore, last
week.

The actress, who recently finished shooting for Mira Nair's short
film on HIV/Aids with Irrfan Khan, says, "My friends and I always make it a
point to meet up for weekends at least once a month.

This is our way of
catching up and re-energising ourselves.

We take off to different parts
of the world as I have good friends all over.

Though Mumbai is a lovely
city, I need to get out every once in a while."

Shop
talk

Her Singapore trip included buddies Malini and Pooja. "Next
month, we are planning to meet in Bali. Sentosa was lovely - warm and
sunny.

My friends make it a point to come for all my film premieres to
Mumbai. They keep me grounded and love me for who I am," she
says.

Talking about her friends, Sameera says, "Both are hardcore career
girls. They are single and independent with great jobs. Malini Mitra is from
Kolkata but works in Singapore and I've known her for six years.

When I
shot for Buddhadev Dasgupta's Kaalpurush and The Voyeur in Kolkata, I stayed at
her parents' home in Kolkata. I had gone to Singapore for some personal work and
met Malini there. We literally shopped till we dropped!"

The shopaholic
gushes, "I bought clothes, games for my Playstation and a new cell phone, the
Nokia E65. I'd dropped my old phone in the pool, so I needed a new
one."

And all that shopping and holidaying burns a huge hole in her
savings. Says Sam, "I've travelled all over the world and my passion is
depleting my bank account!

Sameera is thrilled that
Mira Nair cast her after seeing her in Kaalpurush. "Mira, Vishal Bhardwaj and
Santosh Sivan had come to Delhi and watched a showreel of Kaalpurush. Vishal
thought I was fabulous.

Mira too loved my work. She told me that it's
unbelievable how different I look from my normal image. Her compliment meant a
lot to me," she says.

In Buddhadev Dasgupta's The Voyeur, Sameera plays
an innocent girl from Behrampore. Talking about the difference in Dasgupta and
Nair's working styles, she says, "Mira is very clear about what she wants
it.

Hers is a very creative force that's very inspiring. Dada is quiet.
He explains in few words but I understand. We have this unspoken understanding
between us."